Specialized Butcher Grid

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The Butcher Grid is a feature-packed enduro, all-mountain front tyre that is excellent value at £35. Already highly rated by us in dry weather, Specialized also reckons it’s a good mud-friendly tyre, thanks to the softer, outward-facing 42a rubber that sits on top of a harder 70a base compound, used to keep the tread blocks sturdy.

>>> Click here to find the best winter tyre

With a tread pattern derived from the Butcher DH tyre developed with Sam Hill, this Grid version uses cut-resistant material in the sidewall and a reinforced, dual-ply construction, which makes the tyre more stable and flex-free. It is fully tubeless ready, and was one of the easiest to mount.

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The centre knobs sit quite tightly together, which means it rolls pretty well considering it weighs 950g and has tacky rubber — it certainly doesn’t roll any slower than something of comparable
heft. The Butcher feels very stable and planted on broken, blown-out dirt and loamy corners, and is at home in wet dirt (so long as it’s not deep mud).

However, the rubber compound can feel a bit skate-y and under-damped on wet roots and rocks, especially on the shoulder-edge knobs.

Cornering hold is good, but a fair way off the confidence instilled by either the more aggressive winter tyres in mud and slime. During back-to-back testing, it also felt a tad more nervy and skittish on wet rocks than some other tyres in this category.

The Specialized Butcher Grid is a tough tyre with good durability, shape and tread, and it comes at a great price, but it really works best during the drier months here in the UK.

Details

Weight:950g

Size tested:27.5x2.3 in

Contact:specialized.com

Andy Hughes

Interesting comments on the Butcher struggling on wet roots and rocks. My experience is the opposite. Tyre absolutely excels in grip on those surfaces compared with what you’d reasonably expect. I ride it in winter specifically for those qualities.